Am I ......ready to go?

[cjw]

Recently...I decided this hobby could be very interesting. I did some internet research ..websites and forums.

( I found this forum particularly helpful. )

This is what I have purchased....

Garrett ACE 250
BOSE Ear Buds
KOSS Headphones
Garrett PRO-POINTER

when the snow is finally gone ( ontario canada ) Is there another 'must have' item or....

Am I ..ready to go?

 

[DirtSurgeon]

You are gonna need a good strong shovel. Don't get a cheepie, you'll be ready to throw it out after your first hunt. I'm sure the rest of the forum can help with recomendations...One with a serrated edge helps a lot around tree roots.

I also use an Ace 250, here is what I found in 9 months : http://chrisg.741.com/

Good Luck on your first hunt
DS

 

[Orion42]

A good digger is a must have. I picked up a Gator Sawtooth digger and like that one. A sand scoop is a good thing to look into if you're going to work beaches.

John

 

[metalhead]

Indeed, a good digger is a must, but keep in mind that you don't really want to bring a full sized shovel for digging in a city park or someone's yard(with permission granted of course). Common sense, but you'd be surprized at some of the stuff I've seen. A shovel is fine if you're out in the country/relic hunting and whatnot. For general purpose/coin shooting, etc, all you really need is a garden trowel. Walmart sells a decent one for around five bucks. Lesche is prbably the best digger(not sold at Walmart, but available at KellyCo or any number of dealers and alot more than $5). Comes with a nice sheathe the fits onto your belt, it's virtually indestructable and has a nice serated edge for cutting through roots(which can really be a pain in the neck when you are trying to recover a target). I also carry a plastic trowel type digger for scooping out bits of dirt and checking with propointer or waving over detector searchcoil.
You'll also need a pouch/pocket/ bag/ contaner for your finds and a seperate one for trash. I use a "Sidekick" pouch for my trash targets and use a Garrett three pocket treasure pouch for the goodies. A really good and very affordable alternative is to just use one of those roofong/construction nail aprons. These have two pockets so you can keep trash in one and goodies in the other. Available at Home Depot, Loews, Ace Hardware, etc.
Knee pads are important as well to save your knees from some pain as well as keeping your pants from having dirt spots/grass stains on the knees. I have some really nice, rugged, comfortable, gel padded(expensive) knee pads that I use while nugget shooting 'cause that desert ground can be like cement. However, you can get some disposable foam type kneepads at Home Depot for a couple bucks. I actually use those alot.
A hat is really good to have, just to keep the sun off of you. Also along these lines would be sunscreen, sunglasses, gloves, water bottle, first aid kit(for car).
A decent GPS device is always good to have. Not only to pinpoint your location, but they can also tell you where parks and different places of interest are located. Also, if you find a really choice spot that you would like to return to later, you can save the location/GPS coordinates to bring you right back to that exact spot.
A drop cloth/rag/towel is also good to have so that you can place the dirt from the hole that you've dug onto and just drop it back into hole when you are done.

Here is a decent video on digging a plug to recover your target:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EemmbOHr39Y&feature=PlayList&p=339AC9A67B344BF6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=9

Oh yeah, and a good probe is necessary as well. Garrett makes a really nice brass probe. A srewdriver will do, but you really want the tip to be dull/smooth so it doesn't scratch the target.
That's about all that I can think of right now. I'm sure that others will chime in with some good info. An important thing to remember is that you don't want to weight yourself down too much with unecssary accessories Be comfortable and get ready to get dirty
Have fun!Best of luck to ya!Happy Hunting!

 

[oldranger]

As a 2nd year tector i recomend PATIANCE......
it took me a while to develop it but after I did
things made more sense with the detector and
I found more stuff

Enjoy the Forum and Welcome

Ron
Rangers Lead The Way

 

[gordygroover]

also needed is Acceptance.
You will be finding five junk tatgets for every rotten pennie.
Just accept the fact that there is more trash than gold and fill your pouch.

 

[joe dirt_1]

cjw, one other item i think you might want to purchase would be a smaller sniper coil for hunting in high trash areas. with the standard coil in a trashy park or school you will miss
alot of targets being masked by trash. the sniper coil will isolate those good targets from the trash and will pay for itself in a short time. one other item to buy would be a good coin book like red book. it will help you identify your finds and show you what dates / mint marks are desireable. i also recommend you start your research now in locating possible hunting sites when nice weather gets here. look for historical books and maps from your area. they are a wealth of information for locating old picnic grounds and other sites that were in use in the past. schools and parks are fun to hunt and do produce some nice coins and jewelry, but those places have usually been hunted to death by other detectorists. when you do locate a good site, hunt it slow and with lower discrimination and go over the site with all the different coils you have for your detector. since you are just getting into this fascinating hobby, you should know that every trip out will not be good ones. sometimes all you seem to find is trash and it can be discouraging, but then the next trip will produce some nice old coins and get you all fired up again. be patient and learn your detector and you will find lots of good stuff....good luck and happy hunting.......roger

 

[Uncle Willy]

I think you're pretty well fixed up for the time being. Later on as you progress you might want to add a coil or two but for now you're all set to go. Good luck.

Bill

 

[DJR]

cjw

If you go to the search box at the top of the page and do a search of what your interested in, say for instance, "google earth" or "old homesites" or "dry days",etc...you will get lots of ideas to work on till you have your "thaw".

I even posted one somewhere (with others) to try to map out all the paper boxes and phone booths in my area. These hopefully in your area are clear of snow and should be somewhat easy to detect if your able. People always are dropping money around these sites and your liable to add up alot of change in just one spot! These would of course have to be ones with soft ground beneath them. Sometimes you will find paper boxes put over top of road side drainage inlets . If these empty into a pond on the other side of the road that is where I would detect as well. If money was dropped and went down the drain and heavy rains carried the coins to the outlet end...well another spot to check out. Of course you would definately need the sniper coil for areas like that (trashy)

Good luck

Don

 

[Geo Unit]

Don"t forget an extra set of batteries. You won't need them first few trips but be ready.

 

[veni seekum metallum geltum]

A very high-quality digger, the (Ames) Tru Temper "Garden Buddy", and a quality sheath, as well as kneepads (all in the lawn & gartdens section of the store) can be purchased at Lowes. Check internet reviews on the "Garden Buddy" trowel/digger.

HH,

Mike